6 Common Mistakes That Get in Your Way of Developing Healthy Habits

Today I’m sharing the 6 Common Mistakes That Get In Your Way of Developing Healthy Habits.

The first mistake I see people making is in wanting to change everything at once. This is so common! Every client I work with comes to me wanting to make change in their lives and they are ready to get to work.

The secret to making change is to add one small step at a time. It’s not sexy, but it works.

We will use exercise as an example. (I like to call it movement because exercise has too many negative associations with it).

If you want to become someone who moves their body daily and you currently don’t move at all, an every day goal is unrealistic when you are starting out.

Set your movement goal to be 20% of where you’d like to be. Once you have mastered that 20% you can add another 20%. Keep mastering your smaller goal until you reach your ultimate goal.

The second mistake I see people make is in their mindset: it is all or nothing. The thinking goes if I do not move my body every single day, I might as well do nothing.

Nothing will set you up faster for failure than a black and white way of seeing things. Progress over perfection every single time.

The third mistake I see people making is they fail to keep track of their progress. What we monitor grows. I have been wearing a Fitbit for the last three years and just the simple act of noticing the number of my steps motivates me to move my body.

The forth mistake I see people making is they fail to set reminders of their desired new habit. It is hard to be what you can’t see.

If you want to be someone who is a daily exerciser, how will you remind yourself of that? Some of my clients are visual and love making checklists to hang next to their beds, others let their phones remind them by setting daily alarms and others use the remind features in their activity trackers.

The fifth mistake is failing to set up accountability. If you aren’t someone who is internally motivated, you are not alone! A big part of the population are Obligers (otherwise known as people who need outside accountability). This could look like hiring a coach, finding a friend to meet you for walks, or joining an accountability group.

The sixth mistake is failing to celebrate your accomplishments along the way to reaching your goals. Some clients celebrate by shouting it from the rooftops, others buy themselves gifts they want, others want gold stars. No matter what each milestone is worth celebrating.

You can apply these same principles to making new healthy habits.

What will you start in 2019?

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I teach 100% guilt-free self-care to busy women who want to drop the story that self-care is selfish and start feeling powerful and strong as the leader in their own life. All without them feeling overwhelmed or breaking the bank.